The rebellion is in the air at the Polish video game publisher CD Projekt SA, after the company’s latest title, long awaited and delayed three times, was released for terrible reviews about errors.
Frustrated and angry staff sent questions to the board during an internal video meeting, which opened, and management apologized for the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, according to two people present. It was the right atmosphere for a company whose slogan, plastered on posters around its Warsaw office, is “We are rebels.”
Developers have asked blunt questions about the company’s reputation, unrealistic game deadlines and relentless overtime in the months and years before. up to launch of the game on December 10.
The meeting took place before Shocking Sony Corp. the announcement that it extracts Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and will offer full refunds to any customer who requests one. During the staff meeting, the directors of CD Projekt said that they had reached an agreement with Sony, but did not provide details. In a Twitter post on Friday, the company said that “following our discussion with PlayStation, a decision was made to temporarily suspend the digital distribution” of the game.
A spokeswoman for CD Projekt said the company would not comment on internal meetings.
Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the biggest games of the year and has been a financial success, selling over 8 million pre-orders and recording sales for PC games. But gamers found the game full of bugs, especially on the latest PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, sending CD Projekt shares with fans and critics in decline and describes Cyberpunk 2077 as unfinished. Shares of CD Projekt fell 12% in Warsaw on Friday, pointing to a steady decline this month, which eliminated gains for the year.
During the development of Cyberpunk 2077, staff endured several extended overtime periods, including mandatory six days to finish the game, Bloomberg reported. When asked about this difficult period of questions and answers, the directors said they had plans to improve production practices in the future, but did not elaborate, according to a person who was there.
An employee asked the board why he said in January that the game was “complete and playable” when this was not true, to which the board replied that it would take responsibility. Another developer asked if the directors of CD Projekt sense it was hypocritical to create a game about corporate exploitation while expecting their employees to work overtime. The answer was vague and uncommon.
Many industry observers have wondered why Cyberpunk 2077, which was first announced in 2012 and postponed three times in 2020, seems to be still unfinished. Several current and former employees who worked at Cyberpunk 2077 all said the same thing: The terms of the game, set by the board, have always been unrealistic. It was clear to many developers that they needed more time.
– With the assistance of Konrad Krasuski